Saturday, April 2, 2011

The Bing Maps Android SDK is a base project that can be used to help developers create mapping applications using Microsoft's Bing Maps. This is written in Java and built using the Bing Maps AJAX v7 control.

This SDK consists of a set of libraries and assets that can be used to create Bing Maps applications. These libraries are put together into a sample application which you can either use as a base for your application or as a guide to create your own from scratch.

Features- Built on top of Bing Maps AJAX V7- Touch controls added to support pinch to zoom, and double tap to zoom- Majority of map functionalities are wrapped with Java code so that there is no need to write JavaScript code. This should make things easier for Android developers.- Requires Bing Maps Key- Supports Pushpins, Polylines, Polygons, EntityCollections, and TileLayers.- Libraries for accessing Bing Maps REST service supports Geocoding (Address and query searches), Reverse Geocoding, Routing with support for all route options.- Libraries for accessing Bing Spatial Data service supports FindByArea, FindByID, and FindByProperty.- All service calls have an Asynchronous task which make requests to Bing Servers and parses the response on a background tread.- Works in any orientation.- Infobox support.- Location Details view.- Support for GeoRSS files.

Here are some additional features that are planned to be added in the near future:

- Support for localization.- Documentation of code, and articles on how to use the SDK to create an application.- UI controls for rotating Birdseye view.- Clustering.